Device for raising weights with jack-screws



(No Model.)

. W., w. VAUGHN.

DEVICE FOR RAISING WEIGHTS WITHJAOK SCREWS. No. 245,589. Patented'Aug. 9,1881.

LIE l1 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVALTER W. VAUGHN, OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA.

DEVICE FOR RAISING WEIGHTS WITH JACK-SCREWS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 245,589, dated August 9, 1881.

Application filed January 5, 188]. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER W. VAUGHN, of Stockton, in the county of San Joaquin and State of California, have made and invented a new and useful Improvement in Raising Weights with Jack-Screws; and I do hereby declare that the following specification fully, clearly, and exaetl y describes the nature of my said invention and the manner in which the same is employed and operated, reference be; ing had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to a novel system of blocking, in connection with two or more divided nuts,whereby a lifting or jack screw can be progressed continuously under a building or weight, so as to raise itto any desired height without relieving the pressure or weight upon the screw.

By my system of raising weights I support the divided nuts in which the screw operates on a frame builtof short blocks ofwood placed transversely upon each other, and this frame I build upward as the screw progresses and the weight rises. When this screw has traveled upward a sufficient distance in one nut I add additional transverse blocks, so as to carry the frame upward, and then I place another divided nut upon these upper timbers and clasp and close it around the screw, so that the screw will travel through successive nuts, and thus be continuously progressed upward and lift the weight.

Myinvention relates to certain improvements in the construction ofthe divided nuts, by which they are rendered more convenient and effective, all as hereinafter described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates my improved method of raising weights with a screw and divided nuts. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, showing the construction of the divided nut. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the nut. Fig. 4 is a transverse section through thelinemc, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an end view from the right-hand side of Fig. Fig. 6 shows the end of the lever for turning the nut up or down in placing it or moving it from the jack-screw. I

Let A represent the weight or building to be raised. Underneath this weight I construct a temporary frame (represented in Fig. 1) by placing short blocks or timbers B B transversely outside of them for the frame-blocks to occupy when the blocking or frame is ready to be built upward. The screw is then turned in the divided nut untilit has passed upward far enough I to require a support above. The temporary frame or blocking is then built upward by placing additional transverse timbers upon it until the proper height is obtained. I then place two or more timbers, D D, on the upper transverse timbers of the frame, and upon these timbers I place another divided nut, and clasp it upon the screw near its upper end. At this stage of the operation it is necessary to transfer the weight from the lower to the upper nut, otherwise the weight will remain on the lower nut, and the threads at the lower end of the screw will be liable to be crushed as they pass out of the nut and before the weight could be brought upon the upper nut. This can be accom plished in various ways, such as by driving wedges under the upper nut or by loosing the blocking upon which the lower nutrests. The most convenient means, however, whichlhave discovered for accomplishing this object is to take a long-handled lever, Fig. 6, which has two prongs, g h, arranged to clasp the divided nut atone end, and place it around the projections at one end of the upper nut, so that by applying power to the end of the lever I turn the nut far enough to relieve the weight from off the lower end of the screw.

The under side of the nut I make smooth, so that there will be no obstruction to prevent it from turning on the timbers. The friction of the plate, when moving on the timbers at such time, will not materially resistits turning. In fact, I find that this plan accomplishes the object quite readily and without difficulty. I proceed in this manner, alternately blocking and turning the screw from one nut into and through another, until the weight has been raised to the desired height.

The parallel timbers D D, upon which the divided nuts rest, I make somewhat smaller than the main frame timbers, so that after the frame has been built above them, and the screw has passed out of the lower nut, these timbers can be removed by drawing them out, whereby the lower nut is readily loosened and removed to be used at the upper end of the screw again.

The divided nuts which I use consist of a plate, K, which is divided longitudinally through the middle, and its two halves hinged at one end, as shown at Fig. 2. The nut or screw-threaded portion L in the center of the plate is made in the form of a hub, and is divided through its middle, one-half being on each plate. The opposite ends of these plates interlock when they are closed together, as represented at Figs. 4 and 5, and an eccentric lockin g-pin, m, passes down through an oblong hole in theinterlocking parts, and serves, when turned across the hole orin the direction ofits shorter diameter, to draw the two parts firmly together.

By this means I can raise heavy weights with great facility and rapidity to any desired height, the blocking system being practically capable of extension to any height.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The improved method of raising weights by means ofjack-screws moving through successive divided nuts, consisting in building a temporary frame-work or blocking for the divided nuts to rest upon, and then building the frame-work or blocking upward as the screw progresses, so'as to form supports for the divided nuts that are successively applied to the upper part of the screw, substantially as specifled.

2. The improvement in raising buidings or weights, consisting in applying the upper end of the screw directly against the under side of the building or the weight and causing the screw to pass through successive nuts, which are supported in a temporary frame work or blocking, which is built upward as the screw progresses, substantially as above specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

\VALTER W. VAUGHN.

Witnesses:

WM. F. CLARK, W. Von. 

